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Ultrahigh Density Array of Vertically Aligned Small-molecular Organic Nanowires on Arbitrary Substrates
Published on: June 18, 2013
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High-quality vertically aligned InAs nanowires grown by molecular-beam epitaxy using Ag-In alloy segregation.
Lei Liu1,2, Dong Pan1,2, Lianjun Wen1
1State Key Laboratory of Superlattices and Microstructures, Institute of Semiconductors, Chinese Academy of Sciences, PO Box 912, Beijing 100083, People's Republic of China.
Nanotechnology
|February 24, 2023
Summary
Researchers developed a new method for growing vertically aligned Indium Arsenide (InAs) nanowires on silicon substrates. This breakthrough enables controlled growth for advanced nanoelectronic and optoelectronic devices.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Nanotechnology
- Semiconductor Physics
Background:
- Indium Arsenide (InAs) nanowires are crucial for nanoelectronics, optoelectronics, and quantum devices.
- Controllable growth of InAs nanowires is essential for these applications.
- Current metal-assisted growth on silicon often results in random orientations.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop a method for controlled growth of vertically aligned InAs nanowires on Si (111) substrates.
- To investigate the structural properties and crystal quality of the grown nanowires.
- To evaluate the performance of these nanowires in field-effect transistors.
Main Methods:
- Utilized molecular-beam epitaxy (MBE) with silver (Ag) as a catalyst on Si (111) substrates.
- Employed Ag nanoparticles segregated from Ag-In alloy catalysts to promote vertical growth.
- Analyzed nanowire structure using transmission electron microscopy (TEM).
Main Results:
- Successfully grew vertically aligned InAs nanowires on a parasitic InAs film on Si.
- Achieved nanowire diameters primarily between 20 and 50 nm.
- Demonstrated that thinner nanowires exhibit fewer defects (stacking faults, twin defects), leading to high-quality wurtzite structures.
- Fabricated field-effect transistors (FETs) using these nanowires, achieving a field-effect mobility of ~2800 cm²V⁻¹s⁻¹ and an Ion/Ioff ratio of ~10⁴ at room temperature.
Conclusions:
- A novel method for controlled growth of vertically aligned InAs nanowires on silicon has been established.
- The developed technique yields high-quality InAs nanowires suitable for advanced electronic applications.
- This advancement facilitates the integration of InAs nanowires into silicon-based nanoelectronic and optoelectronic devices.

